Mona takes Bedi's place

Move over Mandira Bedi. Mona Singh is coming. With Mandira's contract with Sony having ended after the cricket World Cup in March, the channel has signed Mona Singh as its new brand ambassador. Her job involves launching new shows as well as anchor and act exclusively for Sony. Certainly Mona couldn't have asked for anything better. For, Sony gave a different direction to Mandira's career through Extraaa Innings and Mona who started her career with Jassi on Sony four years ago and danced her way to bigger fame with Jhalak last year is looking forward to scale bigger height of success through her association with the channel.

"I have always been a Sony kudi and have done all wonderful things for and because of Sony," gushes the model-turned-actress who has always been passionate about acting. But post-Jhalak she is not only passionate about acting but dance as well and has been doing stage shows abroad. "From Jassi to Jhalak it's been a complete makeover for me. People relate to me as Mona and since I love dancing, I really enjoy doing stage shows," she says. In fact, she has recently returned from a two-month-long foreign tour. "I did 30 shows and it was a very satisfying experience. I love it when people clap, whistle and demand a repeat performance. Besides, stage shows are great fun because apart from dancing I get to travel a lot. It's like work-cum-free holiday," she adds.

Mona has set her eyes on Bollywood now. Producer Bobby Pushkarna had signed her for a film but after six months she cancelled the contract and is now exploring other options. "Something interesting should happen pretty soon," she says.

In the meanwhile Mona is happy with her new show. "I am the new movie jockey for MAX. I am a complete movie buff and in this show I will be talking about films, behind the scenes trivia and lesser known facts besides doing celebrity interviews which will be showcased before and during the telecast of a 'Maha Movie' every week. I will also bring in my own style and persona to the show and make it more interactive," she informs.

It's more than a year since Jassi went off air and Mona has kept away from serials. Doesn't she miss acting? "I do miss acting but I don't want to get into kitchen politics. I have consciously kept away from daily soaps because nothing exciting and challenging that's as good as Jassi has come my way. In fact, Sony had also offered me a daily but it didn't interest me enough," says Mona who is also all set to anchor her much-delayed reality show Extreme Makeover. "It got delayed because it involves surgeries on participants which take lot of time. But now the show should come on air by October or early November."

Her relationship with beau Karan Oberoi is going great guns but there are no marriage plans for the next couple of years. "When there isn't enough time even to meet, marriage will have to wait for a couple of years more. At the moment both of us are focused on our individual careers," she says.

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